


Much Too Perfect

by orphan_account



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: It's awful, M/M, something I wrote late at night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 22:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4683767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a feverish Cecil confesses one of his biggest fears to a concerned Carlos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Much Too Perfect

"Carlos." 

"Mhmm?" 

"Carlos!" 

"Cecil... What's up? I was sleeping..." 

"Carlos." He feels Cecil's hands gripping him tightly and his sharp nails burying into his skin. He wonders if his boyfriend is really awake or if he's just sleep talking or something. Carlos carefully pries his boyfriend from him and turns so he can face him. He can barely make out the outline of Cecil's slumped body in the darkness. 

"Carlos!" 

"Cecil..." Gently, Carlos touches his boyfriend's shoulders and discovers that he's burning hot. Probably feverish, he decides, and he shifts to switch the light on. As he does so, Cecil makes a noise of protest and buries his face in the pillow. His boyfriend is definitely sick, which is strange because Carlos thought the city council didn't let him get sick. He thought sickness was against the rules. 

"Cecil, just stay there. I promise I'll be right back." His boyfriend whines but Carlos slides out of bed anyway, pushing his glasses on as he heads to the bathroom. He finds and runs a flannel under the cold tap before heading back to bed. Cecil is swatting at the light but it's just out of his reach. 

"Carlos..." 

"Shushh, a scientist is always prepared for things like this. I'm switching the light off now." And he does, plunging them back into darkness. His eyes adjust after a moment and he shifts closer to his boyfriend. As Cecil wraps himself around his waist, Carlos gets to work dabbing at him with the flannel. He groans appreciatively and leans into Carlos's touch. 

"Perfect Carlos.... So perfect..." 

"Shush, you're being silly." 

"Too perfect for Cecil." That makes Carlos tense suddenly and Cecil must realise it because he shifts a little and whines for Carlos to continue trying to cool him down. Without further ado, Carlos continues running the cold flannel over his boyfriend's skin. Cecil must be out of his mind with a fever this bad. But... Still...

"Is something wrong, Cecil?" He asks as gently as he can, patting down Cecil's forehead whilst being careful for his third eye. It's the only eye still open and it blinks at him innocently. It's also the only eye with a big blue iris and he can feel it staring as he works. 

"Yes..." Cecil says so softly that Carlos thinks for a moment that he imagined it, "Something's wrong. Very wrong, perfect Carlos." 

"Share." It's not the first time that Carlos has been woken at this time of night because Cecil wanted to talk about something but it is the first time that Cecil's been barely lucid. He wonders if his boyfriend actually has any idea of what he's saying or if it's all nonsense. He wonders if he can even hear Carlos at all. 

"I'm scared, Carlos. Perfect Carlos." He's never heard Cecil sound frightened. Well, he has, but only when they were faced by smiling gods or something to that extreme. What could Cecil possibly be frightened of? It's hard to think of his boyfriend as being afraid of anything. He dismisses so many scary things as totally ordinary. 

"What're you scared of?" 

There's a very long pause. 

".... Going crazy..." Ah. That is far from anything that Carlos was expecting and it makes him frown. 

"Why's that, hun?" 

"There's just so much to remember... And forget... And avoid... And my head hurts..." Cecil frowns as manages to force himself up into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around Carlos to support himself. He looks rather dazed and he's still scolding hot. Carlos debates calling an ambulance but somehow, he doubts they have any sane medics in Night Vale. He'd be better off caring for Carlos himself. 

"You're not going to go crazy." Carlos says softly, "I know work's stressing you out but you're not going to lose your mind..." The damp flannel has pretty much dried up so Carlos lays it aside and tries to settle his boyfriend back down. But Cecil insists on sitting up, mumbling in protest and batting his boyfriend away. Even his tattoos are hissing at Carlos. 

"But what if I do go crazy, Carlos?" He says in a very shaky tone, "What if I go crazy?" 

"Then, I'll help you." 

"Help me not be crazy?" Cecil sounds rather skeptical and he shifts a little away from Carlos, closer to the side of the bed. Instead of trying to grab him, Carlos stays still so that Cecil doesn't try and edge any further away. He doesn't want him falling off the bed and hurting himself. 

"Yeah. I'll always be here." Carlos promises. 

"You say that now." Cecil's tone is somewhere between frustrated and panicked. From here, Carlos can visibly see the sweat dripping steadily off his skin and sticking his shirt to his dark skin. His hair is wet with sweat too, damp and greasy so that they'll have to wash it soon. The tattoos are whining now, looking uncomfortable. Carlos doesn't dare touch him. 

"Meaning?" 

"Are you gonna say that ten years from now?" Cecil demands, glaring at him with unsteady eyes like all of this is Carlos's fault. Maybe it is, just a little bit. 

"What?" 

"When I'm throwing shit at the walls, are you gonna say that then? Will you stay with me then? If I'm crazy?" Cecil laughs a little shakily and Carlos wonders how long he's been feeling this way; how long he's been thinking this over. And he begins to worry that whilst Carlos was stuck in the otherworld, Cecil started to get bad. Mentally. His boyfriend had been so glad to have him back but he had been... Rather odd lately. 

"Cecil-" He was cut off. 

"When the city council takes me away?" 

"Cecil, please! Listen to me! No matter what, I promise I'll be here. I love you." Carlos does reach out and take him gently by the arm. This time, at least, Cecil doesn't jerk away from him. He moves closer, his arms slippery with sweat, and wraps his arms back around Carlos. He's so hot that it almost physically burns Carlos. 

"Say it again." 

"I love you?" Carlos guesses. 

"I love you, perfect Carlos." 

"Mhm, I think I'm going to run you a cold bath. Come on." 

"No, perfect Carlos..." Cecil whimpers as he's carefully lifted off the bed, "No..." 

It's still incredibly strange to see Cecil so weak and incapable. 

And concerning.


End file.
